Liars and Lunatics :: Film Blog

Ahhh…. Yet another two-part blog… (Read Part One)

Okay, so when we were drafting the screenplay for our feature film Liars and Lunatics, we decided to turn to the people who do courtroom drama best. Alas, yes, we speak of Hollywood…

They’ve been doing it for years. Courtroom dramas, that is.

Sooooo, why not get a few ideas to help us along with our own film. Here’s a list of some the films that gave us inspiration for our courtroom scenes:

• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• The Hurricane (1999)
• Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
• Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Luckily for us, one thing we had going was the fact that our courtroom was an imaginary one.

We didn’t have to follow all the conventions if we didn’t want to. Like in the scene where we have two witnesses (Avie and Davie Malvideo) on the stand at the same time. Same with props. If continuity was a little off, we had the luxury to say, “Hey, guys, the whole thing is all in James’ head. Remember, it’s an imaginary courtroom!”

In other words, we could have done whatever we wanted. Hmmm. Maybe we missed some golden opportunities here. We could have had everyone floating around like in Mary Poppins… Or why couldn’t we have had them all get sucked into a wormhole and end up on the Starship Enterprise… Or…

Oh, yeah. Budget. That one word says it all…

{{ photo :: Davie and Avie (played by Hudson Chambers and Amanda Short) manage to be on the witness stand together in our imaginary courtroom. Notice the mysterious boom operator in the background. }}

Liars and Lunatics is part courtroom drama. (Actually, one of the working titles for the story was ”The Trial”.)

As many of you probably know, courtroom drama is not the same thing as what takes place in a real-life courtroom.

Even the sole purpose of “Judge Judy” is entertainment. Or watch for the amazing last-minute confessions revealed in the final five minutes of an old ”Matlock” episode (Or “Perry Mason”… Or “JAG”… Or… You get the picture…)

Well, as film director Alfred Hitchcock once said, “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out.” 

And so, when we began drafting the screenplay, part of our plan was to cut out all those dull bits…  Which meant, we skipped over the swearing-in of the witnesses. We did away with all sorts of courtroom conventions…

But, hey… it’s drama after all!

{{ photo :: The gavel Karen Lynn Gorney (as the Judge) used in the film. }}